"Juvenile Lifer" Resentenced in 1996 Murder

An Erie man who has spent the last 21 years in prison for fatally shooting a teenager back in 1996, will spend at least 13 more years in prison.

Monday, October 16th 2017, 6:18 PM EDT by Jamison Hixenbaugh

An Erie man who has spent the last 21 years in prison for fatally shooting a teenager back in 1996, will spend at least 13 more years in prison.

The ruling was handed down Monday afternoon, following the resentencing hearing for 39-year-old Michael Crosby.

Judge John Garhart sentenced Crosby to serve 30 years to life in prison for first-degree murder, and an additional four and a half to nine years on separate charges related to the case.

Crosby has been in prison since 1996, after fatally shooting 19-year-old Demetrius Johnson in the 500 block of East 22nd Street.

Crosby was 23 days shy of his 18th birthday, when he shot Johnson three times in the face, in what prosecutors describe as a cold, calculated, contract-style killing.

Prosecutors say he was offered $4,000 to kill Johnson.

The Commonwealth was initially seeking the death penalty against Crosby, but he ended up being sentenced to life in prison with no parole.

Crosby is one of nine defendants from Erie County granted a resentencing hearing, following the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which deemed mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole unconstitutional for juveniles.

Crosby's lawyer Nicole Sloane asked for a sentence of 20 to 40 years, which would make him eligible for parole.

Erie County Assistant District Attorney Erin Connelly asked for the original sentence to stand.

Judge Garhart determined that Crosby must serve at least 13 and a half more years in prison, before he can be eligible for parole.